you need an IG to look at this and shine that flashlight, shine that light on those activities

I think I want to emphasize that, because there's a grave danger.

We want to credit the Governor and the leadership of the Administration for that. I think that is a good sign.

You are doing great. You are working on a bipartisan basis. You are taking this very seriously.

Well, I think it is important too because that is a benefit that is hard to quantify, but if you add the transportation costs and the energy that is used--I like the idea of stabilizing energy prices in Maine and also stabilizing the…

I can't resist asking--isn't the Composites Center at the University a cool place?

However, this is an official hearing of the Committee, authorized by the Chair, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

the forest products industry in Maine is in the midst of a crisis.

What we need is 106 things to do with wood fiber and new products that we have not thought about.

I have always thought of plants like yours as a kind of insurance policy because you have a more stable fuel price.

I urge the Committee to join him in supporting the biomass energy sector, generally, so our projects are more sustainable and able to pursue projects like co-location projects that make use of combined heat and power.

we're in the midst of an energy revolution and that the islands are Bunker Hill.

pass the Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act of 2017 which Senator King is a primary sponsor

It doesn't have to be shipped across the ocean or----

One of the interesting things about Alaska that I learned when I went to Bethel, Alaska, with Senator Murkowski, was that Alaska largely has no grid.

This hearing of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is now in order.

I want to thank you for your support of the Timber Innovation Act which is helpful for the mass timber and other products and new markets for wood.

FERC also does not properly value baseload sources of energy, facilities that run consistently and are needed to supplement intermittent sources like wind and solar.

Any of you who have not visited the Composites Center at the University of Maine in Orono, it is just amazing what they are doing there.

Senator King and Senator Collins' efforts to recognize the carbon neutrality of biomass have also been greatly appreciated.

Pursue federal policy parity across renewables. Biomass provides forest management services it is not compensated for and competes in an unfair marketplace in which other renewable forms of energy receive Section 45 production tax credits…

That is something that Lisa Murkowski and I have been trying to address together.

I have always thought one of the important parts about pellets and this whole use of wood energy is, and you made this point, this is energy that comes from here.

I just want to give you an idea on the format because I am sure everybody is thinking, I want to ask some questions.

So you are selling power into the grid, essentially, on a day-to-day market rate?